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Let It Burn/Four
Tonight you're letting go, under the burning glow We're too young to hold this load on our own Autumn came and went, riding them violent winds Blowing through the trees, you could feel it on your skin runaway - mat kearney ---- EVERYONE was staring at her. Hunter, but also Gale, Ray, Carter and Elliot. She never brought up her mother, never mentioned her name; it was something she'd learned from Bracken a long time ago. Until now, she hadn't heard Gia's name in moons. "Why are you searching for Gia?" Phoenix's eyes were fixed on Hunter, but he wouldn't meet them. "What do you want from her?" That must be why her father was taken, she realized. He was being brought to the Bastion so they could use him to find Gia. But why? Gale and Ray didn't remember their mother much, but Phoenix remembered her all too well. She dreamed of her sometimes, a beautiful silvery she-cat who always brought back the echos of raised voices and Bracken's pleas as he begged her to stay... "We need Gia's help," said Hunter. "Gia doesn't help anyone. My mother is the most selfish cat in the world, and this world is full of selfish cats." The venom in her voice surprised even herself. "Be as that may. Asta needs her. That's part of the reason we were sent here." Suspicion darkened Elliot's face. "I thought you were here to do damage control on the spread of firefever--in the process subjecting dozens of innocent cats to death by closing off their End of the Crater." Sighing, Hunter said, "I can see neither of you is inclined to trust me-" "Hey, don't we count?" interjected Gale resentfully. "-and I don't think I have a right to blame you. But if you're willing to give me a chance-" his eyes focused on Phoenix "-maybe I can change that. Won't you at least come into the Bastion? It'll be easier to explain all of this in there." Phoenix hesitated. Elliot was shaking his head slowly. "Your father escaped. He's okay," said Hunter gently. "And you might curse your mother, but I can tell you still care about her." "You're wrong," she snarled. "I'll come, but only because I want to know what about that horrid she-cat was important enough to take my father for it. Then I'm out of here." Turning to Elliot, who was already opening his mouth to protest, she whispered, "Follow Bracken." "What? If you're going in there, I'm coming with you," he said, his gray eyes flashing with determination. But Phoenix wouldn't hear of it. "My father's an idiot. Find out if he really was exposed to firefever. Make sure he's okay, and make sure he doesn't cause any trouble in West End. Check on Magnus. Please, Elliot. You've always helped Gale and Ray. Why is my father so different?" In a low voice, Elliot said, "Your father is a criminal, Phoenix. He's hurt other cats." "I need you. I can't take care of my entire family myself." Looking torn, Elliot said, "He's your father, and Gia's your mother. I hate the fact that you have to run around taking care of them at all." "Elliot, please." He looked away. "I know you're not going to let me go in there with you if I say no. You take care of yourself, okay? Don't get hurt. Come back to m- come back to your sisters." Phoenix continued to gaze at him, and he added, "You can trust me. I'll protect them." "I do trust you." "But I don't trust him," he whispered, flicking his ears towards Hunter. She shrugged off his concern. "Leave him to me." For a second, he leaned in towards her, his scent warm around her. Then he stopped himself. "I'll see you soon. Peace to you." She barely had time to respond, "Peace to you," before he was gone, taking her sisters and Carter with him. Hunter hadn't said anything while she and Elliot parted ways, but now he motioned towards the Bastion. "Come on," he intoned softly. "The entrance is thataway." Phoenix couldn't push away her doubts, no matter how trustworthy Hunter seemed at the moment. She had just separated from her sisters; if something happened to them, Carter and Elliot, she would have no way to know. Trust Bracken. She had to believe that when her father met up with them, he would protect them all. Too bad she didn't trust her father. Not that much, not with the two cats most precious to her. Already she felt Gale and Ray's absence like a hollow cavity in her heart, filling with acidic anxiety that was beginning to eat away at her. She wanted to find out why her family was being targeted by the likes of Asta, and what Gia had to do with it, but was it worth it? In trying to protect her family, she could end up ruining them all. They entered the rock formation, and Hunter guided her down a long hall into a small side room where they could talk in peace. As if he could read her thoughts, he said, "Don't worry." "You have a lot to learn about me. If anything happens to my sisters, I'll never be able to forgive myself." "Doesn't it tire you out? You're not a lot older than you look, are you? Yet you act like you are." "What's that supposed to mean?" Hunter gave her a sympathetic smile. "Don't you ever just want to let go? You can't possibly bear all that responsibility on your own." "I have, haven't I? Haven't gone too crazy yet." She wanted to deliver the words with a venomous lash, but instead found herself looking away as a suspicious stinging feeling materialized at the backs of her eyes. Hunter was putting voice to thoughts she had never let herself fully acknowledge, thoughts that had always lingered at the back of her heart. She shook her head, as if physically displacing them. But Hunter wouldn't let up. "You'd like it up at the Peak, you know. I've been there once or twice, when I was little and my dad had to make a business trip up there. Fresh air and endless blue sky. Everything smells like pine and sandalwood, and flowers grow everywhere. Even the earth is soft. No fire geysers, no acid sting in the atmosphere. It feels so right, the wind on your skin and coasting through your fur, and the sun lighting up the sky instead of razing it. That's how cats should live, you know?" "I don't know what your point is," Phoenix said icily. Hunter slumped, giving up. "Nothing. Never mind." "Good. Let's focus on why I'm actually here." She glanced around. "Are you sure we won't be overheard or get in trouble? What about Asta?" "She's on her way to South End." He wouldn't meet her eyes. "To do what? Spread fear and hatred?" "Everyone's already got enough of that. She just has to stir it up a little, and cats turn on each other." Phoenix frowned. "What do you mean?" "Nothing. Just something I saw." He hesitated, clearly debating whether to tell her. "We were passing past the border of East End. There were two cats--friends, strangers, I couldn't tell. One of them thought the other was infected. He... he pushed her into a fire geyser. Watched her get incinerated." Appalled, she shook her head wordlessly. "He washed off her ashes. Just in case they could transmit the infection to him. And Asta did nothing. Just watched him. Watched the kind of terror she's helping fuel." Unable to help herself, Phoenix said, "You're from the Peak, Hunter. It's different up North. Down here, firefever is a death sentence. Cats might be going too far, but the terror is so real. The outbreak is all our worst fears come true. Almost everyone alive today has lost someone to firefever or knows someone who has. We have so much to deal with already -- fogstorms, fire geysers, starvation. Add in a killer epidemic and you push some cats over the edge, into insanity." "If we become killers to survive, do any of us deserve to live?" he said. She couldn't respond the way he wanted her to. On the surface, it was a good question. But it had a naivete to it. "It's not a matter of deserving to live. The Sky-Fire Times brought an end to all of that, that kind of unnecessary morality. If a fire geyser goes off by us, feel free to debate the pros and cons of you not being turned to ash. I'll leap out of the way, whether I deserve to live or not. Because we have to. Did you see my sisters? If I die, who will take care of them? No matter what I do, I'm all they've got." "So that's it. You're content to settle for the bare minimum. Survival, and screw the suffering and wrongs of the world." "You know something? If you care so much about the suffering, why are you working for a cat who is killing off all those innocent Easterners who aren't infected yet? Why are you helping Asta drag cats to the Bastion and Stockade?" Hunter growled something under his breath. "Enough of this. Agree to disagree. You're only here to find out about your mother." "Why do you want her? You tried to use my father to get to her. Which, by the way, is inefficient. She left him and never looked back. She doesn't care what happens to any of us." "We figured he might know something about Gia," said Hunter in a careful voice. "Like what? Her whereabouts? We haven't seen her in moons," Phoenix complained. "Hunter? Is that you?" They were interrupted by a tentative voice. A dark brown-and-white she-cat peeked around the corner. Phoenix recognized her: Adair, one of the cats in Asta's main group. She wondered why the she-cat hadn't gone with Asta to South End. Voicing her question, Hunter said, "I thought you were on a trip." "Asta cancelled the visit to South End." "Really?" Hunter tensed. "Is she back already?" "No. She told us to get back here, but she went somewhere else. Didn't say where, only that it was important." "Did she say anything else, Adair?" "No. You know Asta has her secrets." Adair's eyes travelled to Phoenix. "Who-" "I'm Phoenix," she said quickly. She didn't dare tell the she-cat that she was Bracken's daughter. Hunter cut his eyes towards her, and then stepped closer. Before she knew what he was doing, he'd wrapped his tail around her. "New girlfriend," he told Adair. "Excuse me?" snapped Phoenix without thinking. "We got into a little fight, sorry," said Hunter, throwing her a meaningful look. "But we're okay. Right, babe?" Realizing that he was dead serious, she managed, "Right." It wasn't very romantic, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances. She didn't like it. She understood that Hunter was trying to help, of course, but after being her family's caretaker for most of her life, it was demeaning to have to pretend to be some random tom's girlfriend to save herself a few uncomfortable questions. Plus, she couldn't shake the feeling that Hunter had chosen this particular ruse on purpose. There was a slight twinkle in his blue eyes. She looked away from him. "It's nice to meet you," she said to Adair. "Likewise. Hunter, what are the two of you doing back here?" Adair winked at her. "She doesn't look like she wants any alone time with you, no offense. Come hang out with the rest of us in the main hall." "Phoenix, maybe we shouldn't-" But Phoenix had already stood and was halfway out the door. The main hall sounded like the best place to discover more about the Bastion and what the Peak cats were really doing here. Grumbling, Hunter followed her. If she'd been expecting a hall full of gossiping cats, Phoenix was let down. There was only one other cat present, a silver-and-white she-cat who Adair introduced as Bea. Bea was not exactly welcoming. "Are you sure she can be in here?" she asked, frowning at Adair and Hunter. "Relax. Asta's away on some secret business." Bea's eyebrows went up. "What sort of business? She's been acting strangely lately..." She fell silent, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Phoenix. She bit back an irritated exclamation; she wished she could just ask what the cats wanted with her mother, but she would have to be patient. "Asta is always strange. Any cat that high up in the pecking order is," shrugged Adair unconcernedly. Frowning, Phoenix said, "Aren't all of you from the Peak?" Bea let out a short laugh. "That's the thing about Crater cats. They've got all these stereotypes about us, but they don't actually know jack. We're from North End, but we're not from the Peak. We know how to hunt and fight, and we don't worry about tearing our claws." She smirked at Phoenix. "Come as a shock?" "Take it easy, Bea," said Adair softly. "She's from... Where are you from?" "West End," I said truthfully, figuring that was general enough information to give out. Bea looked at Hunter as if I wasn't there. "She seems nice enough," she said in a clipped tone. "But a little too serious for you, Hunter. I thought you were more into she-cats you could pick up and dump without a second thought." Hunter flinched. Adair cast Bea a dark look. "Would you quit it? It's been like, six moons. What happened to Belle wasn't Hunter's fault-" "Shut up, Adair," Bea snapped. Phoenix shifted uncomfortably. Picking up on it, Hunter took the opportunity to get them out of there. "We should find somewhere for Phoenix to take a nap before I walk her back home." "Make it a short nap. Hunter will have to be there and back before Asta comes back," Adair said, giving Phoenix a playful smile. "I don't need Hunter to walk me anywhere, actually. I can get back home a lot quicker if I don't have to worry about him getting his fool head stuck in a fire geyser," she responded sweetly. "Yeah... okay, come on. We're gonna go. Sweetie," Hunter added in practically a hiss. Phoenix allowed him to guide her out of the main hall before pulling out from under his touch. "What is with you?" she said irritably. "I'm not your girlfriend." "What's with me? You know that was just a cover-up. Adair and Bea didn't mean any harm. Why'd you have to act like such a..." "A what, ''exactly?" "A meanie," he finished lamely. "Sorry. Us Westerners never learn any manners." He heaved a sigh. "They didn't mean it like that." "I get it. Condescension just runs in your veins." "It's not like that. You understand that firefever is more important than class tensions, right?" "Not when you use class to control who lives and who dies," she shot back, suddenly furious. "Phoenix, I-" "Shut up. Do you hear that?" Hunter paused, listening for a moment to the muffled sound, like something was being pounded against a wall. His face drained of color. "No, I don't hear anything." Ignoring him, Phoenix began walking. "It's coming from this direction." "Wait! You can't!" He nearly rammed into her. "Those are Asta's personal quarters." "Asta's not here right now." Phoenix continued walking. "I'm not dying for someone I don't even know," Hunter said mutinously. "I didn't ask you to come with. I don't need you," she said unconcernedly. She narrowed my eyes in concentration, trying to pinpoint the location of the noises. "I think right here." She leaned against the wall and pushed. Suddenly, she found herself falling forward through a gap where the rock had slid right on through under her weight. Hunter reached out and managed to yank her upright before she toppled face-first. But she barely noticed. All she had eyes for was who was inside the hidden chamber she'd just inadvertently stumbled upon. The cat within had her back to them; she turned, silver pelt winking like a butterfly's gossamer wings, as she exclaimed, "Finally someone heard me! I've been-" Phoenix cut her off, unable to believe her eyes. "''Mother?" end of part four.